Vehicle tongue with an improved, lever-operated jack



y 1967 P. L. WAGNER 3,321,181

VEHICLE TONGUE WITH AN IMPROVED, LEVER-OPERATED JACK Filed March 50,1966 United States Patent Ofiice 3,321,181 Patented May 23, 19673,321,181 VEHICLE TONGUE WITH AN IMPROVED, LEVER-OPERATED JACK Paul L.Wagner, Rte. 2, Box 106,

New Holstein, Wis. 53061 Filed Mar. 30, 1966, Ser. No. 538,752 Claims.(Cl. 254--86) The present invention relates generally to .a vehicletongue with an improved, lever-operated jack.

A jack post freely movable vertically through a bearing sleeve on animplement tongue is used to raise or lower the implement tongue tofacilitate the coupling and uncoupling of the implement tongue with atow vehicle. The jack post is also adapted to support the implementtongue in an elevated position when the implement is not in use. Thejack post is actuated by a removable jack lever mounted on the tongue.The jack is retractable to a storage position in which it will notimpede implement movement when the implement is being towed.

To operate the jack post easily in a structure which can be produced atminimum expense, a lever of the third class is pivoted to the tongue ata point remote from the said bearing sleeve and has a terminal fingerselectively engageable in any one of a number of holes with which thepost is provided. A bolt attached to the implement tongue is extendedthrough a slot in the lever and equipped with a wing nut or the likeoperable against a seat provided on the upper surface of an intermediatepart of the lever. The post may be ajusted manually to a level such thatengagement of the finger in one of the post apertures will move the postthrough the limited range required to engage itwith the ground. When thefinger at the end of the lever is engaged with an aperture near thelower end of the post, the post will be held completely free of theground so that it will not impede movement of the towed implement.

An object of the invention is to provide a jack post and jack levereasily adaptable for mounting on existing vehicle tongues.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be come known byreference to the following description and accompanying drawings inwhich- FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing the vehicletongue coupled to the tow bar of a towing vehicle and showing the jackpost in a stored position.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view showing the mechanism of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing the vehicle tongueuncoupled with the jack post in engagement with the ground.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the vehicle tongue and jackpost.

The tongue 5 of an implement is shown to be provided with a ball-couplersocket 6 in engagement with the ball connection of the tow bar on a towvehicle. These parts conventionally represent any appropriate hitch.

Tongue 5 is provided with a bearing sleeve 7 in which jack post 8 isreciprocable. Sleeve 7 is preferably a pipe welded or otherwise mountedon tongue 5. The sleeve 7 is of a length suificient to maintain the jackpost upright. Jack post 8 may also comprise a length of pipe. It carriesa ground-engaging foot plate 9 welded to its lower end. The foot plateshould be of adequate size to support the tongue in loose ground withstability. Foot plate 9 can be of downwardly concave configuration sothat the loading forces will be centered under the axis of the jack postrather than under the side edges of the foot plate. This gives increasedstability on uneven ground.

Jack lever 14 is in detachable engagement both with tongue 5 and jackpost 8. The free end of jack lever 10 has a terminal finger 11 which isselectively engageable in any one of a number of apertures 12 with whichthe post 8 is provided. The other end of the jack lever 10 has a pin 14loosely socketed in the tongue 5, and sur rounded by a flange 18 bearingagainst the tongue, thereby creating a fulcrum about which the lever 10is pivotable vertically. Its range of motion is sufiicient to raise orlower the tongue 5 for coupling or uncoupling with a tow bar. The pin 14may be a bolt inserted through a hole in jack lever 10 or a rod weldedor otherwise rigidly secured to the jack lever.

Flange 18 limits rolling or twisting of the jack lever resulting fromthe play of pin 14 in socket 16. The flange 18 also assists pin 14 incarrying the loading forces when the jack lever 10 is actuated.

When the jack lever 10 is not engaged with post 8, the post 8 is freelymovable through sleeve 7 from a lowered position with the foot plate 9in contact with the ground to an elevated position with foot plate 9 incontact with the under side of vehicle tongue 5.

For operation of lever 10 to control movement of post 8, I may use abolt 20 inserted through :an elongated slot 22 in tongue 5 and a slot 24in jack lever 10 and loose enough in said slots to permit engagement ordisengagement of the jack lever with the apertures 12 in the post 8.Bolt 20 has a head 25 in engagement with the under side of tongue 5. Astandard nut 26 is threaded on bolt 20 and is equipped with a lever 27to facilitate manipulation of nut 26 in the manner of a wing nut. Awasher at 28 separates nut 26 from a seat 29 on jack lever 10.

In operation of the present invention:

Vehicle tongue 5 is raised from the coupled position shown in FIG. 1 tothe uncoupled position of FIG. 3 by manually lowering jack post 8through the sleeve 7 to a position near the ground as shown by dashedlines in FIG. 1. The terminal finger 11 of jack lever 10' is thenselectively inserted in the nearest hole 12 of the jack post 8. Downwardpressure on the jack lever 10 is accomplished by manually tightening nut26 against seat 29, thereby thrusting jack post 8 downward until footplate 9 engages the ground and raises tongue 5 and bearing sleeve 7vertically, whereupon the towing vehicle may be driven away, leaving theimplement and its tongue 5 supported in a position for later recouplingwith the towing vehicle for further use.

To accomplish recoupling, the towing vehicle is parked in a position sothat manual unthreading of nut 26 will lower tongue 5, thereby droppingthe coupler socket 6 over the ball of the tow bar as shown in FIG. 1.

Further release of pressure on jack lever 10 by unthreading nut 26 willpermit disengagement of the finger 11 of the jack lever from the post 8as shown by dashed lines in FIG. 1. The jack post 8 can then be manuallylifted to an elevated position of clearance over the ground as shown inFIG. 1. If desired, it can be stored in this position by engaging jacklever 10 in suitable opening 12 near the lower end of the jack post 8.The jack post 8 is then rigidly secured free of the ground by tighteningnut 26.

Various of the features of the invention are set forth in the claims.

What is claimed is:

'1. A jack comprising a jack post bearing,

a jack post slideable in the bearing and having multiple lateralopenings and a ground engageable foot,

a jack lever having one end adapted to be selectively engaged in alateral opening of said jack post, means pivotally positioning its otherend,

and means acting on an intermediate portion of the lever for controllingmovement of the post through said bearing.

2. A claim in accordance with claim 1, said last means comprising a boltextending through a slot with which said jack lever is provided,

means for positioning the bolt head, and

a nut threaded on said bolt and engaged with said lever above said slot.

3. The combination of a vertically swingable vehicle tongue withcoupling means at one end, having an elongated slot intermediate theends thereof and having a socket spaced on said vehicle tongue at apoint spaced from the coupling end of said tongue,

an upright bearing sleeve mounted on said vehicle tongue at a pointspaced from the socket,

a jack post telescopically reciprocable in said bearing sleeve andhaving multiple lateral openings and a ground engageable foot plate atits lower end,

a jack lever with an elongated slot intermediate the ends thereof,having one end engaged in a selected lateral opening of said jack post,and having its other end in detachable engagement in the socket in saidvehicle tongue and pivotally movable in such engagement to raise orlower said vehicle tongue over said jack post through a sufficientvertical range of motion to permit coupling and uncoupling of saidvehicle tongue,

means to actuate and move said jack lever and accordingly said vehicletongue. 4. The combination of claim 3, in which said last meanscomprises a bolt extending through the slots in said vehicle tongue andsaid jack lever, and having a head in engagement with the under side ofsaid vehicle tongue and having a threaded portion at the upper end ofsaid bolt,

a nut on said bolt and threadedly movable thereon from a positionadjacent the upper end between a position permitting disengagement ofthe ends of said jack lever and another position remote from the end ofsaid threaded portion in engagement with said jack lever to actuate saidjack lever, thereby vertically moving said vehicle tongue.

5. A combination in accordance with claim 4 in which said nut is a Wingnut equipped with a hand lever.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1957 Schnell254-86 X 12/1964 Starkey 254-86 25 OTHELL M. SIMPSON, Primary Examiner.

1. A JACK COMPRISING A JACK POST BEARING, A JACK POST SLIDEABLE IN THEBEARING AND HAVING MULTIPLE LATERAL OPENINGS AND A GROUND ENGAGEABLEFOOT, A JACK LEVER HAVING ONE END ADAPTED TO BE SELECTIVELY ENGAGED IN ALATERAL OPENING OF SAID JACK POST, MEANS PIVOTALLY POSITIONING ITS OTHEREND, AND MEANS ACTING ON AN INTERMEDIATE PORTION OF THE LEVER FORCONTROLLING MOVEMENT OF THE POST THROUGH SAID BEARING.